Some thoughts about recent developments at the third-quarter mark of the season, as the Red Wings continue to confound the skeptics, remain on top of the NHL standings and make news:

Pavel Datsyuk's knee

In a word: shock.

A guy walks around the dressing room one day, and the next he is in a news release that includes the words "bone fragment" and "surgery."

But that is hockey.

The impact of losing Datsyuk for two or three weeks, or perhaps six-to-nine games, was immediately evident Tuesday against the Blackhawks. With Chicago ahead for much of the third period, Detroit's anyway, anytime, anywhere man — i.e., capable of scoring anyway, anytime, from anywhere — was not on the ice.